{"id":80,"date":"2015-04-29T14:38:08","date_gmt":"2015-04-29T19:38:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.csr.utexas.edu\/?page_id=80"},"modified":"2023-07-10T15:23:52","modified_gmt":"2023-07-10T20:23:52","slug":"missions","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/utw10640.utweb.utexas.edu\/wordpress\/missions\/","title":{"rendered":"CSR Missions"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The UT Center for Space Research is a leader and innovator in mission planning, design, and execution of spacecraft, aircraft, and ground-based campaigns. CSR expertise has led, supported and enhanced many missions that have improved our\u00a0knowledge of complex processes ranging from how the\u00a0Earth’s system operates to exploring\u00a0questions regarding\u00a0fundamental physics.<\/div><\/strong><\/p>\n

Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE)<\/span><\/h4>\n

\"\"<\/a>The twin-spacecraft Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission measures changes in the Earth\u2019s gravity with unprecedented accuracy, providing\u00a0crucial information about the distribution and transport of mass within the Earth system\u2019s surface and deep ocean currents, surface and ground water storage, ice sheets and glaciers, and other hydrological and terrestrial features.<\/p>\n

Learn More<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

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Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow-On (GRACE-FO)<\/span><\/h4>\n

\"\"<\/a>Since its launch in May 2018, the GRACE-FO mission has continued the measurement of variations in the Earth\u2019s gravity field, and is providing datasets that enable scientists to develop an even deeper understanding of long-term global climate processes. The new and innovative Laser Ranging Interferometer technology has been successfully demonstrated, and provides high quality measurements.<\/p>\n

Learn More<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

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Ice, Cloud, and Land Elevation Satellite 2 (ICESat-2)<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n

<\/a>Scheduled for launch in 2018, the ICESat-2 spacecraft is a photon-counting laser altimeter satellite that will continue the original ICESat<\/a> mission\u2019s detailed global measurement of changes over time in ice sheet, sea ice, forest canopy, and global land and ocean surface heights. CSR supports the Precision Orbit and Pointing Determination (POD, PPD) tasks that are critical for accurate and precise geolocation of the laser.<\/p>\n

Learn More<\/a><\/p>\n

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\"MAGAL<\/a>MAGAL<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n

Once launched, MAGAL<\/a> will be a constellation of 6 identical Cubesats, each equipped with an Earth-observing radar altimeter. By flying in close proximity one after the other, MAGAL will improve on a global scale temporal sampling from 10 to 5 days of regional and local variations in sea surface topography, ocean eddy detection and tracking, and inland water levels. This will enable enhanced marine debris monitoring, near-term water conditions for fisheries and other ocean-faring operations, and more precise data for natural disaster response. MAGAL<\/a> is funded by the UT Austin Portugal Program<\/a>.<\/a><\/p>\n

Learn More<\/a><\/p>\n

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uPGRADE<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n

\"Artist<\/a>uPGRADE is an Earth Observation Cubesat for observing Earth\u2019s gravitational field variations and measuring the neutral thermosphere. The University of Texas at Austin will evaluate the scientific capabilities of satellite, equipped with a GNSS receiver, MEMS accelerometer and Star-trackers, in cooperation with a consortium of Portuguese commercial and academic institutions, comprised of\u00a0Spin.Works<\/a>,\u00a0University of Minho<\/a>, the\u00a0International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory<\/a>\u00a0(INL) and the\u00a0Institute of Welding and Quality<\/a>\u00a0(ISQ), funded by the\u00a0UT Austin-Portugal Program<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Learn More<\/a><\/p>\n

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Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) The twin-spacecraft Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission measures changes in the Earth\u2019s gravity with unprecedented accuracy, providing\u00a0crucial information about the distribution and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/utw10640.utweb.utexas.edu\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/80"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/utw10640.utweb.utexas.edu\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/utw10640.utweb.utexas.edu\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/utw10640.utweb.utexas.edu\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/utw10640.utweb.utexas.edu\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80"}],"version-history":[{"count":96,"href":"https:\/\/utw10640.utweb.utexas.edu\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/80\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3143,"href":"https:\/\/utw10640.utweb.utexas.edu\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/80\/revisions\/3143"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/utw10640.utweb.utexas.edu\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}